Year One of the IBM Watson AI XPRIZE: Case Studies in “AI for Good”

Abstract

The IBM Watson AI XPRIZE is a four-year competition where teams work to improve the world with artificial intelligence. The competition began in 2017 with 148 problem domains in sustainability, artificial general intelligence, education, and a variety of other grand challenge areas. 59 teams advanced to the second year of the competition and ten teams earned special recognition as “milestone nominees.” The properties of the advancing problem domains highlight opportunities and challenges for the “AI for Good” movement. We detail the judging process and highlight preliminary results from cutting the field of competing teams.